谷口 雄一（ナノ生体科学講座 ソフトバイオシステムグループ D2）
派遣期間：平成16年9月20日-10月1日（12日間）
派遣目的：1. 10th International Workshop on "Single Molecule Detection
and Ultra Sensitive Analysis in the Life Sciences"に参加し、成果発表、情報収集(Germany) 2.Wolfson
Institute for Biomedical Research University College London(U.K.)にて研究打ち合わせ 3.Laboratoire
de Physique de la Matiere Condensee de l'Ecole Normale Superieureにて研究打ち合わせ(France)

Report on an official travel for conference participation and laboratory
visitation.
Yuichi Taniguchi. Department of Mechanical Science and Bioengineering,
Graduate School of Engineering Science.

Purpose
1. Poster Presentation at 10th International Workshop on "Single
Molecule Detection and Ultra Sensitive Analysis in the Life Sciences" 2.
Visitation to Michael Hausser’s laboratory in UCL to present and discuss
our research 3. Visitation to David Bensimon’s laboratory in ENS to present
and discuss our research

Result and prospective
At the international workshop, I gave a poster presentation of our research
on a motor protein, whose title was “Thermodynamic analysis for Brownian
stepping movement of single bio-molecular motor using optical trapping
nanometry system”. During the presentation and poster session, I was
able to discuss our research with various foreigner scientists and was
able to exchange ideas with them and get some advice. The workshop was
specialized in the technical development of methods of single molecule
detection and spectroscopy, which are now well established and applied
to important biological and medical research. This workshop introduced
many more topics with vast potential under study, for example, two-photon
excitation technique, new and robust fluorophores such as quantum dots,
metal-fluorophore interactions, analysis of living cells, applications
in high throughput screening, or the investigation of protein folding
and biological function studies of macromolecules. It might be possible
to apply to these new techniques to our research in the near future.
Many events held in the workshop, for example, an exchange meeting, reception,
bus tour, and so on, were very useful in enableing me to become acquainted
with many experts in related fields of research. In addition, I visited
two laboratories in which former members of our laboratory are now working
as postdoctoral fellows (Michael Hausser’s laboratory in UCL and David
Bensimon’s laboratory in ENS). Using the techniques they learned in our
laboratory, these postdoctoral fellows are approaching new and challenging
problems on nerve information processing and protein-nucleotide interaction
in fields outside of our laboratory’s current research. To see their
research and the laboratories has widened my field of view and provided
me with good advice about our research and my future plans. I presented
my research and had detailed discussion with them. This tour helped me
to gain new insights into our research, and enabled me to make many acquaintances
amongst experts who kindly shared their experience with me.